Premier Division

Unfortunately, after a number of heavy defeats and difficulties raising a side due to having lost all their players from last season at the start of the season, Durrington have withdrawn from the Premier Division and their results expunged. They will now look to regroup and possibly play friendlies against some of the Development Division sides and other Ladies sides that are just establishing. Going forward this means there will be just four fixtures in the Premier Division each week although on Sunday this could have been just two games with both Calne Town and FC Chippenham calling off their games due to being unable to raise a side. However, due to the proactive co-operation of both Swindon Supermarine and Bemerton Heath Harlequins, a third fixture was arranged for Sunday at very short notice with Swindon Supermarine and Bemerton bringing forward their game originally scheduled for 8^th December. Thank you to both sides for arranging this at such short notice. The two sides then served up an entertaining encounter in front of the Your Sport Swindon cameras.

When the two sides had met in the first fixture back in September title favourites Bemerton Heath Harlequins had hit Swindon Supermarine with 13 unanswered goals and it was to be a much closer affair in the return fixture, with the home side making Bemerton work very hard for the three points. League leaders Bemerton took the lead through Imogen Brady in the opening minutes after an initial effort had been saved by the Supermarine keeper but the ball fell nicely for Brady to fire in for her 15^th of the season. However, Supermarine were quickly back on level terms as a mishit clearance from the Bemerton keeper went straight to Amy Jarvis’ whose shot from distance found the back of the net to bring Supermarine back on level terms. Bemerton restored their lead from the penalty spot after a push in the box, Ellen Clarke making no mistake with her spot kick to put Bemerton 2-1 ahead. Bemerton continued to take the game to Swindon Supermarine and went close on several occasions, but a combination of some excellent saves and stoic defending prevented Supermarine from falling further behind. Bemerton finally got a third when the ball fell nicely for Brady close to the penalty spot and she fired in for goal number 16 of the season and it remained 3-1 at the break. Second half Bemerton continued to press but the best real chance of the early stages of the second half fell the way of Supermarine, the Bemerton keeper pulling off an excellent save diving to her right to deny Supermarine a second goal. After that Bemerton were very much on top and went close on several occasions before Brady added a fourth with a simple tap in for her hat-trick and then scored a fifth after the ball came back off the crossbar and fell nicely for the Bemerton striker for her fourth of the game and 18^th of the season. That is now seven wins in seven games for Bemerton who remain favourites to secure promotion to the South West Regional Women’s League Division One North. They will be able to test their ability against sides at that level this coming Sunday when they host Corsham Town in the Wiltshire FA County Cup, who last season won the old Wiltshire League and were promoted to the South West Regional Women’s League. Defeat and results elsewhere saw Swindon Supermarine drop to fifth although they remain three points behind second-place and with a game in hand. They are also in County Cup action this coming weekend when they host Highworth Town Under 18s. Your Sport Swindon were at Swindon Supermarine game and subscribers can view highlights of the game and an interview with manager Nick Masi by clicking on the link below or using the link from the Your Sport Swindon page of the League website where you can access all other games covered by Your Sport Swindon.

Highworth Town stayed on the heels of Bemerton with an impressive 6-1 away win at Melksham Town with Highworth in fact scoring all seven goals with the Melksham goal coming courtesy of an own goal. Michelle Rich had an enjoyable afternoon for the visitors helping herself to a hat-trick in her second game of the season for Highworth, there was two more for Lauren Bulley who moved onto 19 for the season, before adjusting for Durrington's withdrawal, with Kirsten Rolls getting the other Highworth goal, her first of the campaign. Highworth are without a game this coming Sunday, whilst Melksham Town host Calne Town in a league fixture.

The final game played in the Premier Division on Sunday was a much closer affair and it saw Kingsdown pick up their fifth win of the season in their eight games to date to move above Swindon Supermarine and into fourth place in the table. Charlotte Chandler and Charlotte Robinson both scored twice for Kingsdown in a 4-2 win over Westbury Youth, Rebecca Guy and Carly Keane with the goals for Westbury. Kingsdown are another side taking on South West Regional Division One North opponents this coming Sunday in the Wiltshire County FA County Cup with Purton set to be the visitors to Kingsdown School whilst Westbury Youth host AFC Brislington in a league fixture.

Division One

There was a full schedule of four games in the Development Division. Trowbridge Wanderers  extended their lead at the top of the table following a 5-0 away win against Staverton Rangers. Nadia Radu set them on their way with the opener on 18 minutes, but it remained just the one goal in the first half. Trowbridge stepped up their game after the break and two quick fire goals just before the hour mark from Tilly Dunnery and Megan Keast gave them a 3-0 lead. Two further goals in the closing stages of the game from Ella Garnett and Kate Bosworth, the latter coming in the final minute of the match, completed the scoring. This coming Sunday Trowbridge Wanderers are another side in County Cup action when they take on fellow Development Division side Ferndale Rodbourne, whilst Staverton are without a game due to their pitch being unavailable due to County Cup games involving their youth sides.

Biggest winners of the day were Marlborough Town  who moved up to second place in the table with an 8-0 win over Ferndale Rodbourne. Sienna Lewis led the way for Marlborough scoring a hat-trick to take her total for the season into double figures, Elyssia O’Keeffe scored two with one apiece for Zelie Rowland, Lily Wain and a sixth of the season from Victoria Goldson. Marlborough Town are also in County Cup action this coming Sunday against another Development Division side with an away tie at Salisbury. When they met in the league at Marlborough last month Marlborough ran out 4-1 winners and will start as favourites.

On the subject of Salisbury they moved to within two points of third placed Malmesbury Victoria with a 3-1 home win at the Ray Mac against Blunsdon thanks to two goals from Angela Collins and one from Jade Randall, Claire White with the Blunsdon reply. Salisbury have that cup date with Marlborough Town this coming Sunday, whilst Blunsdon face the daunting task of a game against South West Regional Division One North side Royal Wootton Bassett Town, with a number of the Blunsdon players set to return to play against their old club.

The final game on Sunday in the Development Division saw South Newton & Barford Hornets pick up their fourth league win of the season with a 5-1 home win over bottom of the table Kingsdown Development to also moved to within two points of Malmesbury. Kelly Church and Georgi Bavister both bagged their fifth goals of the season with further goals from Molly McCarthy and Emily Palmer and an own goal completing the scoring for South Newton & Barford, Hope Hedges with the solitary Kingsdown goal.

League Cup

The draw for the Quarter Final of the Ladies League Cup has been made by League Chairman Brian Busson and League Secretary Jim Thorn. The four ties see league leaders Bemerton Heath Harlequins drawn away to Calne Town, whilst second placed Highworth Town have a local derby encounter with near neighbours Swindon Supermarine. The winner of the First Round tie between Salisbury and Melksham Town will be home to Ferndale Rodbourne whilst the remaining Quarter Final tie sees either Blunsdon or South Newton & Barford Hornets home to the winner of the First Round tie between Kingsdown Dev and AFC Brislington.

The outstanding First Round ties take place on Sunday 8th December and all the Quarter Final ties are set to take place on Sunday 26th January, the week after the County Cup Second Round games. The full details of the results to date and the draw are shown below:

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12 November 2024